Debating Society

A preliminary meeting in the first week of the Easter Term saw the election of new officers—G. Gildener as Chairman and A. M. Headlam as Secretary; also, Hunt, Wakefield, Powell, Le Pla and P. C. N. Brown were elected to membership during the course of the term.

At our first meeting on Tuesday, 6th February, Mr. D. R. Galley was invited to address the Society on a subject of his own choice. He proceeded to outline the general tenets of the existentialist under the general heading of 'Existentialism is a Humanism'.

On 20th February, the Society welcomed Mr. G. Hopkins who outlined the 'Problems facing composers in the 20th century', and digressed a little to describe `musique concrete' for the benefit of the 'avant garde'.

We finally succeeded in securing the services of Dr. Bowen of Bootham Park Hospital who gave an introductory talk on 'Psychiatry'.

Our final meeting took the form of another evening of original contributions, ranging from Brown's rendering of several Victorian ballads to an amazing sketch by Territt and Gildener adapted from an article in the Observer.

May we finally extend our thanks to our speakers and also express our appreciation of the excellent refreshments provided by the Kitchen staff. A.M.H.

THE DEBATING SOCIETY

The past debating year has seen many changes and developments; Mr. G. D. Field has taken over from Mr. Cummin as Master-in-Charge; after holding office for the first term, Messrs. P. Collins and J. M. Pickard were succeeded by Messrs. C. J. Territt and G. Gildener as President and Secretary respectively. In November Messrs. Collins, Territt and Pickard were invited to the Ampleforth College Debating Society to propose the motion: "This House sees no value in the U.N.O. today". The motion was defeated.

The first motion of the Christmas term was "This House refuses to fight to maintain the status quo in Berlin." The proposer, Mr. J. F. Williams, appealed for negotiation which, he felt, would avoid bloodshed. Mr. C. J. Territt, opposing, suggested that the fall of West Berlin would result in domination of the world by the forces of Communism. Messrs. A. J. Wakefield and C. G. Evans seconded and the motion was defeated —militant patriotism won the day by 129 votes to 13.

The second motion, "Gaudeamus igitur, dum iuvenes sumus," was proposed by Mr. C. J. Parker, who thought true enjoyment was constructive, not destructive, and there was, therefore, no reason to imply that merriment in youth led to misery in old age. Mr. J. M. Atkinson, opposing, demanded that we work to make the country worth living in. Rejoicing was escapism. Messrs. R. E. Bryan and J. C. Powell seconded. The motion was easily carried.

At the next meeting Mr. P. C. N. Brown, proposing the motion "This House would abolish the Welfare State" based his argument on an attack .on the inefficiencies of the Health Service. The opposer, Mr. Gildener, asserted that the British had a basic sense of responsibility for the welfare of their fellow citizens and this was guaranteed by community action. The seconders were Messrs. D. R. Gow and C. L. Brown, and the motion was defeated.

For the fourth meeting the motion was : "This House would not vote for the Conservative Government if a general election were held tomorrow." Mr. P. M. Kemp, seconded by Mr. J. M. Pickard, proposed and Mr. M. A. Clegg, seconded by Mr. M. Sutcliffe, opposed the motion which was handsomely defeated.

At the final meeting of the term, the motion: "This House maintains that Britain has no justification in restricting immigration from the Commonwealth," was proposed by D. L. Slade Esq., O.P. Mr. Slade stated that mainly coloured people would be hindered by any restriction and this was just another example of racial intolerance. The opposer, Mr. C. G. Evans, suggested that any restriction would protect the immigrants from being victimised on account of their lower social levels. N. R. Barton, Esq., O.P. and Mr. C. J. Parker seconded. The motion was carried by 76 votes to 68 after a lively debate.

The Easter term's debating began with the motion, "This House abhors the death penalty, and would seek its abolition," proposed by Mr. C. J. Parker, seconded by Mr. J. L. Richardson. Mr. Parker sought the reform of the convicted not their destruction. Mr. J. M. Pickard, opposing, demanded the absolute penalty for the absolute crime. Mr. C. L. Brown seconded for the opposition. On being put to the vote, the motion was defeated.

For the second meeting, the motion was "Men are but Clay and women make mugs of them." Proposing, G. D. Field, Esq., described the ways in which the types of women, who sat on committees of which he is a member, make mugs of men. M. S. Oxley, Esq., a student master, opposed. He claimed that since he himself was no mug, then the motion was obviously proved defeated. Messrs. C. G. Evans and P. Hunt seconded, and the motion was defeated.

The third meeting took the form of a Brains Trust. A panel consisting of four members of the staff—P. H. Bolton, Esq., A. Craven, Esq., D. G. Cummin, Esq. and D. R. Gailey, Esq.—discussed the abolition of National Service, Advertising, Mrs. Dale's departure from Parkwood Hill, American H-Bomb tests, Lady C., and the move of the I.R.A. to become a political party.

The last meeting of the year brought a challenge from the York and District Law Students' Debating Association on whose behalf P. A. Morris, Esq., O.P., seconded by J. A. Barker, Esq., proposed that: "This House prefers Saturday night to Sunday morning." The proposer described the niceties of a Saturday night's debauchery, while at the same time casting doubts as to his own sobriety. Mr. C. J. Parker, opposing, criticised the moral standards propagated by the proposer, and emphasised the tranquillity of a Sunday morning. He was seconded by Mr. C. P. Spencer. The motion was carried by a very small majority.

The Junior Debating Society was re-formed late in the Easter term. The motion, "This House considers space travel futile", was proposed by Mr. C. J. Territt, seconded by Mr. H. Biddle. Mr. J. M. Pickard, seconded by Mr. P. M. Emsley, opposed the motion which was defeated by one vote.